Editorial department staff bios

PHIL MORRIS Opinion editor and vice president

Phil Morris is the Star Tribune’s opinion editor and vice president. He’s responsible for opinion content and leads the Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

Morris previously worked as an editorial writer and columnist for newspapers in Cleveland and Dayton, Ohio. He has been recognized as a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for columns he wrote while working at the Cleveland Plain Dealer. In 2020, Morris became a contributing writer to National Geographic, frequently penning essays about race, culture and law enforcement. He authored cover stories for the magazine on the COVID-19 pandemic and the removal of confederate iconography in the southern United States. He also penned commentaries on capital punishment as well as the worldwide social unrest following the murder of George Floyd. Morris completed a Knight-Wallace Fellowship at the University of Michigan in 2012, researching the use of social media in social justice movements.

E-mail: phil.morris@startribune.com

JILL BURCUM Editorial writer

Jill has been an editorial writer since March 2008, joining the Editorial Board after working in the newsroom as an editor and reporter. She is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for editorial writing. "Not This Mine. Not This Location," which focused on copper mining's risk to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, was recognized in 2020. Her "Separate and Unequal" series on dilapidated Bureau of Indian Education schools was a finalist in 2015, and she also testified before Congress that same year about these schools' poor condition. Burcum graduated magna cum laude from the University of Washington in 1991 and started her career as a reporter for the Rochester Post-Bulletin. She previously worked for Mayo Clinic and Ican Inc. Jill and her family live on a southeast Minnesota farm.

E-mail: jill.burcum@startribune.com On X: @JBurcum

Denise has been an editorial writer at the Star Tribune since 1996. Before joining the editorial board, she was a reporter, editor, columnist and editorial writer at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and wrote editorials for the Miami Herald. She currently writes about urban affairs and a variety of other topics, but specializes in covering K-12 education. Johnson has also worked for the American Society of Newspaper Editors in Washington, D.C., and done diversity training locally and nationally. Earlier in her career, she hosted and produced news and issues public affairs shows on Twin Cities public television. The recipient of several journalism awards, she was honored in 2007 with the Frank Premack Graven award for career contributions to public journalism. Johnson lives with her husband in St. Paul, her hometown, and they have one grown daughter.

E-mail: denise.johnson@startribune.com

JOHN RASH Editorial writer and columnist

John is an editorial writer and columnist. His weekly Rash Report column analyzes media news and trends. His focus on foreign policy as an editorial writer has taken him on reporting trips to China, Japan, Turkey, Rwanda, Kuwait and Kazakhstan. John was the recipient of a 2014 Society of Professional Journalists Page One Award for editorial writing. John's commentary can be heard Fridays at 8:20 a.m. on WCCO-AM (830), the CBS radio affiliate in the Twin Cities. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, John was a senior vice president, director of media analysis for Campbell Mithun, a Minneapolis-based national advertising agency. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, and has been an adjunct faculty member at the U's School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He lives in Bloomington with his wife and two children.

E-mail: john.rash@startribune.com On X: @RashReport

Steve advises the Editorial Board and meets regularly with opinion editor Phil Morris to discuss the board’s positions.

DAVID BANKS Assistant commentary editor

David is involved in various aspects of production of the opinion pages and online opinion presentation, including the selection of commentaries and editorial writing. Born in St. Paul, he grew up in Prior Lake and Kasson, Minn., before attending college at what is now Minnesota State University, Mankato. He previously worked at the Mankato Free Press, Austin Daily Herald and St. Cloud Times. He's been at the Star Tribune since 1994.

E-mail: david.banks@startribune.com

ELENA NEUZIL Copy editor and letters editor

E-mail: elena.neuzil@startribune.com

MAGGIE KELLY Assistant commentary editor

Maggie designs Star Tribune Opinion's print pages and is a copy editor for the section as well. She grew up in Hopkins and Bloomington, then traveled south to attend Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in English and creative writing. She previously worked as a managing editor for Tiger Oak Media and got her start at the Star Tribune on the copy desk in 2014.

E-mail: maggie.kelly@startribune.com